Incredible video shows plane flying into eye of Hurricane Florence

LATER NEXT WEEK: The remnants of Hurricane Florence could bring some heavy rain to the D.C. region by next week.

"We have extra manpower on the road", Vest said.

About 1.7 million residents have been urged to flee from parts of North and SC.

Hurricane Florence was on course Wednesday to deliver a devastating blow to the east coast of the United States, with millions urged to flee inland hours before it was due to announce its arrival with torrential downpours.

The storm's maximum sustained winds were clocked on Wednesday at 185 km per hour, down from a peak of 225 km per hour a day earlier before Florence was downgraded from a Category 4 on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of wind strength.

Flash flooding is the largest threat to structures and lives with the National Weather Service stating: "Storm surge flooding has accounted for almost half of the deaths associated with tropical cyclones over the past 50 years". The Navy, Air Force and Army have been moving people, ships and aircrafts out of harm's way, though evacuations were not mandatory at bases such as Camp Lejeune.

Another commenter said: 'That hurricane better be taking me to dinner first'. But at the Eagle Crest senior living community near the shore here Wednesday, the windows had always been boarded up and a sign was already hung on the front door announcing that nobody was there. It's possible that a storm surge between one and three feet may impact coastal Chesapeake Bay areas.

When the National Hurricane Updates shared a map of the category four hurricane, dubbed "the storm of a lifetime", on Facebook, people were quick to compare the pink round-headed shape displaying the devastation to something a lot less serious.

"It's going to be bad", said Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County Commissioners.

A hurricane warning - meaning hurricane conditions are expected within 36 hours - is in effect for a long stretch of the coast, from the Santee River in SC to Duck, N.C., which is part of the Outer Banks.

But despite the potentially devastating hurricane, forecast to make landfall on Friday with 130mph winds, people tried to offer some "relief" in the silence before the storm.

"Hurricane Florence is looking even bigger than anticipated".

"Watch out, America! #HurricaneFlorence is so enormous, we could only capture her with a super wide-angle lens from the @Space_Station, 400 km directly above the eye", German astronaut Alexander Gerst tweeted.

We'll keep you updated on this system in the coming days. "Storms like that don't usually make it that far west". Hurricane Helene is veering toward Europe and newly formed Subtropical Storm Joyce is not expected to threaten land.